


Fire and Ice

by wanderingstoryteller



Series: Spots of Time [2]
Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/F, Hot Springs & Onsen, Nudity, Public Nudity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-08
Updated: 2019-04-08
Packaged: 2020-01-06 17:45:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,825
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18393275
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wanderingstoryteller/pseuds/wanderingstoryteller
Summary: The Doctor and her friends go to a hot springs. It turns out it is one of the ones where men and women go to different sides and swimsuits aren't allowed. This proves to be very interesting for the Doctor and Yaz. Also everyone gets attacked by a giant radish spirit because Team TARDIS can never really just have a day off.





	Fire and Ice

The Doctor had forgotten that the hot springs in New New New New Hakone Onsen were separated by gender.

The woman behind the ticket counter was very firm on that. “If you want to go to a mix-gender hot springs you should have gone to New New New Takaragawa Onsen, they even wear swimsuits and such there.”

The Doctor consulted with Team TARDIS. “So do we get back on the TARDIS and go there or do we split up?”

“I’m fine with staying,” said Graham. “Your last three attempts to take us to a spring haven’t ended well. It was nice meeting those abominable snowmen on the last trip but I was really hoping for something warmer.”

“Agreed,” said Yaz. She knew perfectly well that an attempt to get to Takaragawa wasn’t likely to actually end with her getting to sit in a pleasant thermal spring.

So like a certain famous fictional gang known for running around with a quasi verbal great dane, they split up. They made plans to meet for dinner in the resort dining room in a few hours before they left.

Without thinking, the Doctor turned to follow Graham and Ryan to the men’s side.

“Ma’am,” snapped the ticket seller. “That’s the men’s side.”

The Doctor paused mid step, “Right new body, keep forgetting. You know how it is.”

The woman behind the desk just looked at her blankly, “Also you can’t take that floatie in with you either.”

“Even if it’s duck shaped?”

“Even if it’s duck shaped.”

“Well this place is no fun.” The Doctor pouted as she followed Yaz into the women’s changing room. She was not pleased she’d had to deflate her ducky. “The next thing you know they’ll be telling me I can’t wear my rainbow bikini.”

“Sign says no swimsuits or towels in the water, something about them being “dirty? We can still wear towels to the water at least.” Yaz squinted at a sign on the wall.

“Ah.” the Doctor’s pout deepened.

With a shrug Yaz found a locker and started tugging off her layers. She was fairly well bundled since it was snowing outside after all. It didn’t occur to her that she was taking off her clothes in front of the Doctor until she had her bra half undone. At that point she felt too awkward to turn around, so she just finished undressing and tugged a fluffy white towel around herself. It shouldn’t have been awkward really, presumably the Doctor was changing as well.

When she turned back around the Doctor was safely wrapped up in a similarly fluffy towel and busy trying to get everything to fit in her own locker. She was oddly quiet. Yaz couldn’t remember the last time she’d heard the Doctor go more than thirty seconds without going on about something.

There was a small indoor section to the hot springs but Hakone Onsen was famous for its outdoor springs, so that was where they headed. They stepped out into a large courtyard filled with a huge central pool and ringed with snow and interesting rock sculptures. The entire area that didn’t abut the building was ringed by a high wooden fence. The men’s side of the compound lay on the other side of the northern fence. While the changing room had been empty, the outside section of the springs was fairly crowded. Yaz caught sight of an alien species or two but the majority of the guests were human variants.

Had it not been snowing, Yaz might have taken a moment longer to appreciate the beauty of the place. As it was, she felt she might be at actual risk of freezing her tits off, towel or not, so she headed straight for the steps into the water.

She shed her towel and set a careful foot into the water. It was marvelously warm so she added a second foot. She turned to look back towards the Doctor. “The water is perfect.”

The Doctor was standing a few steps back, arms crossed over her towel covered breasts. She flushed and quickly looked away.

It occured to Yaz that the Doctor had been looking at her. She quickly ducked fully into the water until it reached her shoulders. Surely the Doctor had seen a naked human woman before, she’d said she traveled with humans in the past. She’d even once mentioned a human wife. So why had she stared? Was there something about Yaz’s body she found weird?

Yaz made the mistake of looking towards her friend again at the exact moment that the Doctor tugged off her towel and stepped into the water. Yaz had seen her fair share of naked women over the years, both in the rather nerve racking setting of school locker rooms and then later must less stressful in the locker room at her local gym. She had seen and done rather intimate things with a woman or two in considerably more private settings.

The Doctor was by far the most breathtaking naked woman Yaz had ever seen, even if she currently had her adorable nose scrunched up. She was slender with small high breasts. Her nipples were that light pink shade that most often comes with pale skin and her face and collar bones were flushed with either embarrassment or cold. She looked very human, complete with hair everywhere a human woman would. Goosebumps were already forming on her exposed skin and she stepped very quickly into the water.

“Careful,” said Yaz quickly. “The steps are a bit slippery.”

Her warning had the opposite of the desired effect, actually distracting the Doctor. She lost her footing and Yaz moved to help her. The Doctor ended up grabbing her arm and dragging them both into the shallow water. They went down in an awkward tangle of limbs and came up sputtering.

The Doctor’s hair was plastered to her head, Yaz’s at least was twisted back in a now soggy bun. Yaz worriedly brushed soaked bangs from the Doctor’s face.

“Are you alright.”

“Banged my knee a bit, nothing to worry about.”

“Right, lets go sit down.” They paddled over to one of the heavy stone ledges set into the edges of the pool. When they reached the underwater ledge they both settled back, finally enjoying the warm water.

It really was incredible soaking in the warm mineral spring as the snow slowly fell all around them, soft and ephemeral. The heat of the springs caused the air to shimmer with heavy steam. Other women moved in and out of focus as they swam or lounged.

Yaz closed her eyes and let the calm of the place slowly settle over her. It had been so long since she’d actually taken a moment to just relax like this. Traveling with the Doctor tended to mean going non-stop most of the time, not that she minded the running but it could be a bit much after a while.

Thinking of the Doctor, she was still being uncharacteristically quiet. Yaz blinked open her eyes to glance at the woman beside her. The Doctor was very pointedly looking at the water in front of her and nothing else.

“Is everything alright?” asked Yaz gently.   

“Yea.”

Yaz tilted her head a little and then realized that since the Doctor wasn’t looking at her she wouldn’t see the gesture, so she added. “First time at a hot springs?” She realized it was a dumb question as soon as she asked it. She’d never been to one before herself but surely the Doctor had, it had been her idea to come to one after all.

“Nah, I’ve been to plenty, I’m just not really used to being on the woman’s side of one. I keep expecting someone to shriek and kick me out. There was this one time in my twelfth regeneration when I was tracking down a squimble and it ran into a woman’s locker room and I went after it and well...” She made another face. “Bill had to save me from a very displeased women’s rugby team. She told them all I was her senile grandfather who had wandered off. It worked out alright for her mind you, I think she got one woman’s number. It still took us hours to find that damn squimble.”

It took Yaz a moment to process the story. She decided to focus on the underlying issue instead. “ Doctor, you belong here as much as you did at my Nan’s hen party.”

The Doctor leaned back on her arms, sinking into the water up to her chin, “I suppose so. It’s funny, I’ve lived so long, had so many faces, but the way others perceive me and where I’m welcomed has never changed so much until this time. I’m still getting used to it, especially the not always being taken as seriously bit.”

“I don’t think you’re supposed to get used to that bit. I sure as hell never have,” admitted Yaz, thinking especially of her own career as a rising police officer.

“Yea the whole adjusting to new bits things has actually been a bit easier to become accustomed to than the increased risk of being burned at the stake.” The Doctor sounding a bit more like herself.

Yaz frowned. “Doctor do you hear something?”

“What?”

“I think I hear screaming coming from the men’s side of the springs.”

The Doctor sat up very straight, she could have sworn she heard Graham yelling her name.

That was when the giant daikon came crashing through the fence between the men’s and women’s sides of the springs. At least Yaz thought it was a giant Japanese radish spirit, it looked like one. She’d seen Spirited Away as a kid just like everyone else in her generation. The damn thing even appeared to have an empty red sake bowl on its head.

The Doctor nearly vaulted out of the water, reaching for a coat and pockets she did not currently possess. Yaz followed her.

“Go, get your sonic. I’ll distract it.” Yaz realized how insane that all sounded as soon as the words left her lips.

The Doctor was already in motion though, running barefoot down the path for the locker room along all the other fleeing women.

Yaz found herself standing naked, in the snow, faced by a lumbering root vegetable. Not knowing what else to do, she snatched up a forgotten towel and began to wave it about the air wildly. “Hey, hey you, Miyazaki reject, over here. She ran towards the creature and to her utter amazement it began to follow her.  

She had to draw it away from the fleeing crowd so she turned towards the ornamental garden. She realized that that was a mistake as she vaulted over a small hedge only to realize that she didn’t have very far to go before hitting a fence.

“Oye, leave her be!” Ryan and Graham had followed the strange monster through the now demolished fence.  Graham had managed to find a towel, in the chaos Ryan had not. The young man began to chuck stones at the daikon’s back. It let out a low guttural sound of annoyance and turned.

Ryan barely managed an “Oh, my days.” before Graham grabbed him and they were fleeing back towards the less then substantial protection of the men’s side of the fence. The slow lumbering beast began to pick up speed.

“Hey, hey, don’t you hurt them!” yelled Yay. She snatched up a stone and flung it. She managed to nail the daikon in the center of its soft back. It turned, nearly tumbled over and looked at her. Yaz waved her towel like a matador.

Almost wearily, the thing began to plod towards her. Yaz ran. She was halfway to the bathhouse when she slipped and fell on her naked butt in the snow. She just knew that this was how she was going to die, eaten by a giant oriental radish variety.

“You stop this right now you hear!” barked the Doctor. She’d pulled on her coat, although not closed it. She strode across the snow, still barefoot, with her sonic pointed like a witches wand. She reached down to pull Yaz to her feet and then shoved her behind herself.

The daikon stopped and seemed to tilt its enormous two sided chin to look down at the small woman. It made a rumbly sound again.

“Yes. I know you're angry but that’s no excuse to go frightening people,” snapped the Doctor.

It rumbled more.

“Well, I’m sorry but you can’t stay that size, It makes you too dangerous.” The Doctor’s sonic began to buzz and slowly the radish shrunk down until it was about the size of a child.

“Get some sake,” the Doctor hissed at Yaz.

Not knowing what else to do, Yaz looked around wildly. She noticed a series of small overturned tables and a still sealed sake bottle lying on its side. She snatched it up and handed it to the Doctor.

The Doctor accepted the bottle and quickly opened it. “Come on, give me your hat and you can have a proper offering.”

The little daiku spirit removed the red sake bowl from its head and held it out with two three fingered hands. The Doctor filled the bowl and the daiku drank. When the bowel was drained it shimmered for an instant and then vanished. The bowl clattered to the ground. The Doctor quickly snatched it up and pocketed it.

“Doc, Doc, you alright,” called out Graham as he and Ryan came running.

It was only then that Yaz remembered she was naked. She quickly wrapped herself with her half snow coated towel. Her motion of covering herself seemed to suddenly cause Ryan to realize his own unclad state. He awkwardly covered himself with his hands before noticing a discarded towel and snatching it up.

Graham, who had in fact seen a partially naked woman before, perhaps even more than a few fully naked ones in the long years of his life, made a point of looking the Doctor in the eyes. “Doc, what was that thing?”

“Pissed off local energy being, at least I think it was, we are a bit far from earth to be running into actual radish spirits. I’ll have to question the locals but I think it probably attached itself to an object in a local shrine and then got upset when whoever was giving it sake offerings stopped. We can ask around.”

Yaz leaned over just enough to draw the Doctor’s coat closed. “Maybe we should go get dressed first, yea?”

 

In the end the Doctor’s theory turned out to be correct. It was not in fact even the first time that a local energy being had gone on a rampage on New New New New New New New New New Japan before. The last time one had taken the form of a fox spirit when it became angered that a Kitsune statue was no longer being offered sugar candies at a local shrine. There was likely a better way to deal with the issue but the Doctor told the owners of the springs to just keep making a daily sake offering to the sake bowl and leave it at that.

The proprietors even gave them a free meal in the spring’s now empty dining room in thanks. Like most health young men would when faced with a large quantity of dumplings, Ryan proceeded to eat himself nearly sick. Yaz, the Doctor and Graham copied his example. There were also sweet desserts and plenty of sake.

They were all stuffed and exhausted by the time they made their way back to the TARDIS. It was a long, if pleasant walk in the heavily falling show. They were still a few minutes from the Tardis when the Doctor linked an arm with Yaz’s, ostensibly for warmth.

She leaned just close enough to whisper in her ear. “So what’s the story behind the lily tattoo on your left breast.”

Yaz could feel her face flush. The Doctor had to have looked pretty damn closely to have noticed that tiny tattoo. “Something stupid I did with a girlfriend. Both of us had flower names, so for our first year anniversary she got a jasmine flower, I got a lily.”

“You never mentioned her. You’re not still seeing her are you?” asked the Doctor very carefully.

“Nah, the tattoos were the kiss of death for the relationship. She and I split for good not long before you fell from the sky over Sheffield.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Nah, it was probably for the best.”

“Ah, well onwards and upwards then.”  

Yaz was sure she was just imagining it, or perhaps the Doctor was just cold, but it seemed to her that the Doctor held her arm just a bit tighter and leaned a little bit closer the rest of their walk back to the TARDIS.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm still deciding how much of a slow burn to make this series. I want to give the Doctor and Yaz's relationship some time to develop but I've also got some fun ideas for when I get to the first sex scene. If you've got thoughts, let me know.


End file.
